angela merkel is hearing from their business interests. they don't want anything to do with the sectoral sanctions. her ability to stay aligned with the president is crucial for sectoral sanctions to work and not be implemented in patchwork fashion. >> mohamed, you mentioned because the economy is getting tighter that the cost of protectionism is rising as well. >> it is interesting we have not seen protectionism happen like you would have expected when we went into a major economic slowdown. the key issue now is step-by-step this diplomacy normally would favor -- you step onvor, does this step which seems appealing to politicians, are you losing control of the situation on the ground? there is reason to believe that is happening. it means it will be harder to solve in a few weeks. >> mohamed, thank you for joining us. mohamed el-erian. you can read all of his bloomberg columns on bloomberg.com/view. and of course, to phil mattingly. next week, the outspoken casino magnate will join me for an exclusive interview. that is next week at 8:00.